Dear Editor,
The first fifty years of Independence could have been a casebook study of political megalomania, leadership failure, and wasted opportunities. What does the next fifty years promise? Will they be different? Can they be different? Or are more of the same national traumas and tragedies in the making?
First and foremost, for this society to go anyplace, the national unity (social cohesion) issue must be settled. This has to be a sacred pursuit and calling for all political participants. If the games and manipulation continue, then all is lost. There is already severe entrenched degradation; for there to be any progress on a national scale, there must be reversal of this insidious national necrosis brought about by the continuing systemizing of race fear and race hate. If there is no considerable movement, no reversal, then we might as well give up right now.
Now, I do not seeing us proceeding far with this. Why? It is because of lack of commitment, lack of effort, lack of interest, and lack of trust. The racial picture ought to be clear by now: It is a disaster-known, quantifiable, tangible-that bodes ill for this society. There is no silver bullet, or magic potion, that will make national unity happen. There has to be comprehensive, continuous dedication to a cause, a calling, a shared vision. Unfortunately, I do not foresee men wanting to relinquish power, to share, or to let go of their hold on the political tribe. Trouble it has been and trouble it will be.
Second, and this is related, long before the next fifty years have elapsed, the venerable racists and diehards would be gone. The social and political space is there for the substantial number of younger ones to fill. There is a problem, an ancient one: The facts and circumstances already indicate that that it is déjà vu all over again; a repeat of history, chips off the blocks.
To be brutally frank, the youths are mirror images of their political progenitors; right down the middle, and with the same blind racial biases, the same adhesive racial loyalties, and the same immovable racial identification. I wish it were otherwise, but the stage is thus set for more of the same from before. While they do not know of the ʼ60s troubles, they have heard and read enough to stick with the old programme. Make no mistake: the racial programme works. It works for the dividers, the powerbrokers, and the power pursuers. It does not work, however, for the country.
If anything, the May 2015 elections revealed that there has been a smooth, enthusiastic grasping of the political baton. When all the political prattle, propaganda and salesmanship are considered, the racial baton has been reached for and grasped in spirit, in actuality, and in fealty by this succeeding generation of Guyanese. No further analysis should be needed. The contours of the fifty year future reside therein, through the die cast. It could be in stone, except that there may be a partnership here, a merger there, and someone stirring over there to bring about temporary, immaterial change. Hearts are not there. We desire fervently the peace and stability and progress of national harmony, but we are not ready to commit to the many sacrifices to get to that state.
Thus it is more of the easy way; the tried and true is promised, with the revolving door of political ascendancy (and corresponding decline) of one group or the other in the now familiar 20-25 year cycles. In the intervening years, feelings harden; people celebrate where and how they are, and the confrontational lives on. Men fall in love with themselves, and the muscle and reach (the limitless apparatus) of power. The optimists are free to hope for a Black Swan development; they might as well look for John the Baptist returning to pave the way forward in Guyana. Then again, the age of miracles is not over.
Now enough about the political and racial terrain ahead; it is time to peer into other areas.
Third, there is that oil sloshing around beneath the riverbed. It can come to
represent much; and holds the potential to take the country to another level, if handled right. This can go either way, but
historically the local political powers have had extreme difficulty with accounting, openness, and truth. Anything related to money transforms careful political Dr. Jeyklls to twitching, uncontrollable Hydes; their baser instincts overtake. The enlightenment provided by the precedents of other rentier societies only fuel discouragement, if not fatalism.
Smarter societies, mono-cultural places, have furnished track records of pillage and carnage, of suppression and destruction, whenever and wherever oil flowed. It comes with a curse, and like Midas, it hardens men’s hearts and entombs their souls. This could prove similarly problematic for Guyana, if missteps are not avoided. The upcoming decades will attest accordingly.
Fourth, there has to be a sea change in education. CXC should not be the route. To be kind, it is too simplistic, too non-competitive, and too limited. The local future is not prepared and equipped to challenge the intellectual hordes unleashed by globalization. That same youthful future is bored with critical thinking, analytical argumentation, and academic combat. They declare themselves content with taking copious notes. Non-stop dictation is the totality of their learning world. This includes no reading, as far as such can be avoided. It occurs only under duress, and then only that which is mandatory.
Hence, the question: where are the cornerstones to catapult this society deeper into the 21st century? I mean even the heralded Pareto principle (the 80:20 rule) is obliterated into oblivion. Should 20% of our students rise and stand their ground against all comers, then there would be a base from which to leverage. Two per cent is not going to get this nation anywhere. Or is it zero point two per cent? Reading is knowledge; knowledge is power; and power is… well, power.
If the current situation persists way into the future, then get ready for a populace of the powerless and pathetic. If existing standards can be systemically and programmatically demolished, then some hope springs. A concerted challenge to, and departure from, the status quo might be in the making.
In other notes, this country can evolve, within the next several decades, into a de facto American satellite, or an attempted Venezuelan expansion. The local narcotics and money laundering industries will wax and wane, as new contingencies are introduced on both sides of the tussle, with Guyana as an onlooker. Currently, businesses are in a holding pattern, and everyone is glued to the inflight radar. There will be the occasional blips of apprehension here and there, but the massive formations have receded out of sight and out of range for the near future. This has too high a level of cardio-toxicity for national health; the state cannot afford this ongoing state. Something has to give.
I do not see significant improvements in public institutions in years coming. Off-the-books transactions have already been transported deeper underground. The cosmetics of a smile, a listening ear, and a welcoming attitude all mask cold hard business calculations. Personal business calculations, that is. By the same token, citizens will pay for speed and deliverables. They have little time for ethics and standards or interminable waits; that is for fools, cheapskates, and the dirt poor. So, it is business as usual, in the now classic Guyanese tradition of ‘hand wash hand.’ This is not conjecture; it is culture.
As these projections into the next fifty years unravel, my time would have been over, and my peers gone. Future history will judge the accuracy or fallacy of the next fifty years of Independence, if we last so long.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
